...on life, music, sports, and whatever else strikes my fancy.

June 14, 2010

SIFF 2010 Week 3 reviews

Week 3

6/5 8: The Mormon Proposition

I knew that the Mormon Church was intolerant but I had no idea the extent they would go to impose their beliefs on our country.The relentless campaign they waged in California to get Prop 8 pass was incredibly well-organized and a little frightening.For a country that was supposedly founded on the idea of the separation of church and state the fact that they were able to get the state’s constitution modified based on religious beliefs is unsettling.I certainly hope they lose their tax-exempt status and have to register as a PAC.I gave it a 5 mostly to help its popularity.More people need to see this documentary.

6/9 Bran Nue Dae

An Aboriginal coming-of-age musical sounds like it should be a lot of fun, but it fell flat for me.It seemed sloppy and uneven, and hard to follow in some places.The musical numbers were excellent, especially seeing Geoffrey Rush doing his bit dressed as a priest.I gave it a 3 based on the music.

6/10 Violet Tendencies

Violet is the ultimate “fag-hag” for all of the gay boys in her neighborhood, but her love life is sadly lacking.She meets a man who she thinks might be “the one”, but soon realizes that her soul mate is just around the corner.I really wanted this movie to be hilarious, but it just fell flat.Some bad acting, some bad editing, but I still enjoyed it more than some of the other movies this year, so I gave it a 4.

6/11 Father and Guns

Police officers who also happen to be father and son go undercover in a Father/Son retreat that is meant to resolve issues between fathers and sons.There are some hilarious moments as well as some unexpectedly tender moments, although this was one case where having to read the subtitles (it was in French) was distracting, especially when the father went on one of his rants.I gave it a 5 mostly because it was the best movie (not documentary) I saw.

6/12 Miss Nobody

So England’s Steve Gerrard scored early in the game due to a defensive breakdown, but the U.S. settled in and gave a stronger performance for the rest of the half.When Clint Dempsey’s shot bounced off the England keeper and into the net the bar went crazy.Both teams held serve during the second half, resulting in a tie score.Note for 2014 – check the World Cup schedule when planning SIFF movies.

1 Comment

I first saw 8: The Mormon Proposition at The Sundance Film Festival and it is worth seeing again and again. It is getting extended standing ovations at many of the festivals it plays at and anyone feeling to criticize it should see it first. They will find as Variety’s review states: “8″ actually spends more time trying to humanize homosexuals than to demonize those who hate them.